The safety net for hard-working individuals is shrinking. While costs of living--rents, food prices, utility bills--have risen significantly over the past three years, government funding has not, leaving aging or disabled Americans in the untenable position of having to make ends meet on small assistance checks.
Today's Application of the Day comes from an elderly couple in the exact situation mentioned above. Married for 50 years, the couple lives off modest Social Security payments. As costs of living have increased, their Social Security check amounts have not, forcing them to borrow money from their son in order to stay afloat. Even with assistance, however, they are unable to pay their gas bill this month, leaving them vulnerable to the cold this winter. Read on to learn more about this couple in their own words, then click the link below to help keep them warm this winter:
"My husband is 72 and I am 70. We have been married over 50 years and have spent all of our life in this community. We are living on Social Security retirement with modest help from our eldest son as a short term loan.
We need help with our gas bill. The cost to heat our home has increased each year, but retirement benefits have not kept up with inflation. This most recent fill will not last until spring. If we do not receive help, we will not be able to heat our home properly. This will impact our heath.
It's hard not to worry how we will make ends meet. Medicine and doctor visits are expensive. The price of everything goes up except our benefit check.
This summer my husband and I gardened our land for vegetables to eat during the winter in order to save money. We also provided some to others in our community. We try to live inexpensively.
It would mean a lot to receive help from Modest Needs to pay this expense. At our age we are doing everything possible to make ends meet and truly need this help with a basic necessity. We are limited due to our age as to what we can and cannot do. You are kind to consider our request. Thank you."
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